Rutland HSA Soft White is discontinued, need a replacement!

[ZooCity]

Didn't know spsi was stocking it., thanks.

Is the perfetto akin to a performance plastisol and more difficult to print?

And yes,  we use not one but two unique retarders plus water in the Rutland.  It still tries to glue itself to the inside walls of the stencil though.

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[UnderPressureSP]

Yes its like a performance plastisol.  It still requires a gray blocker base on polys in order to prevent dye migration. 

 

[Colin]

Chris:

What's the humidity like there when you print?  I know it varies month to month

The designs I do are quite detailed/fine details/fine dots and I stopped needing to add anything to the white.

The only time I need to add water is to replace what has evaporated. 

Just curious

[ZooCity]

Oh it varies but hovers around 14% this time of year and at times in the Summer.  Basically it's bone dry in the shop for a good chunk of the year.  The HSA will dehydrate on press and sometimes need pulled to rehydrate in the middle of a run.  It's definitely not a super friendly ink in our shop but the results are optimal for many prints we do.

[noortrd]

Try matsui.

[ebscreen]

Oh it varies but hovers around 14% this time of year and at times in the Summer.  Basically it's bone dry in the shop for a good chunk of the year.  The HSA will dehydrate on press and sometimes need pulled to rehydrate in the middle of a run.  It's definitely not a super friendly ink in our shop but the results are optimal for many prints we do.

I was gonna ask the same as Colin. We've seen the "sticking to the inside walls of the stencil" as well, and I'm
wondering if our screens aren't too dry.

Fun fun fun.

[brandon]

You can always move here to New Orleans. We have humidity to spare. If you want I'll send you some 

[ZooCity]

So after testing, here are some notes to share. 

Our test was as follows:

73˚F ambient temp
24%RH on press
Platens warmed to ≈135˚F
Quarz flash
135/48 tpi mesh @ 26 n/cm
55/90/55 blade @ 15˚
30psi pressure
Fast flood, med/slow stroke, 2x stroke
1/8" off contact from platen rubber to screen
All inks have 5% of their respective retarder added. 
Testing was done as an all HSA print-flash and over a DC UB
Same screen, parameters used on all inks but adjusted slightly for optimal print.  Screen was prepped with Matsui Softener XA-1 before each ink was tested.
Cured 2min@350˚F in a Sprint HO.

Magna Aquaflex v. Matsui 301-5 Stretch White  v. Virus Hydracryl

Flash Times: All had good, fast flash times, none higher than 3s.  Hydracryl White flashed the fastest at 1-2s

Dry in/open time:  All were acceptable.  Magna Aquaflex had the best open time, extending past the 2 min mark on an open screen (not flooded at rest)

Opacity:  All were fairly close here either as 3 hits of HSA + Flash straight to shirt or over DC UB

Hand: Varies here a bit.  Most were rougher as standalone HSA prints, acceptable over DC UB.  Matsui and Magna had best hand.

Long story short, all looked good out the back of the dryer.  None out-performed the Rutland Soft White control prints, particularly on the hand of the finished ink, bridging, stretch and performance over DC UB.  Magna had better open time than Rutland from what I could see.  All the inks tested here have a much more straightforward additive regimen compared to the cocktail of additives we are required to use in the Soft White.

Gets interesting after our wash regimen. 

Magna: Poor wash as standalone HSA, cracking in direction of shirt stretch.  Instant adhesions issues 2 wash cycles in over DC UB.  Nazdar shipped us a crosslinker to address, retested with same parameter and adhesion was improved but cracking still present.

Virus: Poor wash as standalone HSA, cracking in direction of shirt stretch.  No adhesion issues over DC UB but cracking still present. 

Matsui: Closest in performance to Rutland after washing.  Acceptable to very good over DC UB, minimal to no cracking, zero adhesion issues. 


So Matsui wins for us right now.  Kinda sitting around waiting for Rutland's next version but also p.o'd about how the discontinuation was handled.

Thanks to Kelly and Christine at RC Screen, Peter Walsh and Simon at Nazdar for samples and support on this.  Great people working at excellent suppliers, I love and recommend them all. 

[Colin]

Chris,

Going to Long Beach tomorrow and that's one of my questions to the guys at the Rutland booth....


Thanks for your awesome reporting!

[ZooCity]

Let me know what song those birdies sing.

Figured I'd share since I had all the info anyhow.

[IntegrityShirts]

Anyone add water to matsui stretch white along with retarder to keep it from drying in the image area?

I had a heck of a time keeping my top white open on a small 75 piece run even with 6% retarder.

[ZooCity]

Anyone add water to matsui stretch white along with retarder to keep it from drying in the image area?

I had a heck of a time keeping my top white open on a small 75 piece run even with 6% retarder.

We always rehydrate HSAs.  It's tricky though, you don't want to over or under do it.  Hydration level impacts opacity greatly at a certain point. 

We do it in the bucket because they don't accept misting on press well at all, ends up with a misprint unless done with absolute precision.  When they dehydrate on press we add back in/pull the dryer ink back out and hydrate in the bucket.

Also they are weirdly hydrophobic when adding water to them, not sure if that's from the humectants or what... 

[Underbase37]

Thanks for the update.

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[UnderPressureSP]

Not sure what type of HSA your looking?   Magan makes a UltraStretch white that is very nice and like matsui.  We hardly use the aqua flex for printing since it is design for light shirts.  We been loving the HB, Aquaplas ff white, and the Advance print  TD neutral from magna.  We have had zero issues using a mix of TD neutral and aquaplas ff white to print on top of discharge UB.  It does have a slight hand.  Still haven't tried HB base with a DC UB since we usually only use the HB when a client wants a discharge feel on a non dischargeable color or fabric. 

[ZooCity]

This was aqua flex,  should I have been evaluating another from magna? I was happy with it all around except for it failing wash, so very willing to try again.

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